706 LITTLE AUK. 



while it is common on the west side of Novaya Zemlya, though 

 not known directly to the eastward of the Kara Sea. In Greenland 

 large colonies exist from lat. 68^ northward nearly to 79°, beyond 

 which Col. Feilden did not observe this species ; nor has it been 

 recognised in the Arctic regions to the westward of Bafifin Bay, or in 

 Bering Sea, and the Pacific. In winter it ranges as far south as New 

 Jersey, being well known to American fishermen as the " Ice-bird," 

 from its partiality to the vicinity of bergs and floes ; and even as 

 early as August 15th 1884, the steamer, on which I was, passed 

 through a flock in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where, at that time, 

 there happened to be an unusual quantity of ice. 



The single egg is deposited in holes and tunnels under stones, so 

 far in that the Arctic foxes cannot reach it, or else in cliffs up to 

 2,000 feet above sea-level ; it is of a pale greenish-blue colour, 

 sometimes faintly spotted and scrolled with red : measurements 

 I '9 by I "25 in. Col. Feilden found nestlings just hatched on 

 July 28th ; and subsequently noticed that the parents had their 

 cheeks distended with a reddish substance, consisting of immense 

 numbers of minute crustaceans, which were evidently intended as 

 food for the young. In autumn and winter the Little Auk feeds on 

 animal offal, and is then fond of staying close to fishing-vessels at 

 anchor ; while on the approach of a vessel it has a peculiar way of 

 splashing along the surface of the water — as if unable to fly — and 

 then diving through the crest of an advancing wave. As Mr. Abel 

 Chapman has remarked, it swims rather deep, and very much " by 

 the stern." 



The adult has a small white spot over the eye ; head and upper- 

 parts greyish-black ; chin and throat sooty-black in summer, white 

 in winter, and mottled with black and white in spring and autumn ; 

 breast and belly white ; beak leaden-black ; irides hazel ; legs and 

 toes slate-colour, webs darker. Length 8"5 in., wing 4'65 in. The 

 young bird resembles the adult in winter-plumage. White and 

 isabelline varieties are sometimes met with. 



In the Southern Hemisphere there is a genus of small oceanic 

 Petrels {Pelecandides), the members of which bear a strong super- 

 ficial resemblance to the Little Auk in size, form, colour, and mode 

 of flight ; but on closer examination, they may at once be recognised 

 by their tubular nostrils. 



